Incursion
by BulbasaurLeaves
Summary: Zee Tee and Nehema's carefree exploration of their quirky cartoon world inadvertently allows the hidden darkness to invade. Will they endure long enough to be reunited or descend into madness trying?


Author Note:

I replayed Eversion recently and couldn't stop wondering what it was like for the characters living in that strange, multilayered world. This is what I came up with. Feedback is very much appreciated.

* * *

It was another beautiful day as I strolled through the principality of Flowerland. I unrolled my leaves to absorb the sunlight streaming through the vibrant blue sky.

"Hi, Zee Tee! Wanna play?" chirped one of the playful ghulibas as they skipped over.

"Okay, let's play teleport tag," I bounced on top of Sunny, "You're it!"

He giggled before vanishing. Instantly reappearing at the nearby checkpoint, he dashed after us. While the other ghulibas and I scattered, Sunny managed to grasp one of my petals and send me back to the check point. We played throughout the morning until the sun grew high in the sky.

"I'd better get going," I told my bouncy yellow friends, "I'm meeting the princess today."

"Play more! Play more!" they cheered in unison.

"Maybe tomorrow," I chuckled, "Don't you guys ever need a rest?"

"Yep, we're always sleeping!" Skip chattered nonsensically.

I should've known better than to ask by now. For all their joy and playfulness, the childlike ghulibas just weren't all there in terms of brains. Still, I humored the pair that had enough focus to keep talking to me while the others ran off to frolic aimlessly. "You never sleep. You just run around playing, day and night."

"We're always playing!" chimed Skip.

"And always sleeping!" finished Sunny.

"Always happy, always calm, always sleeping, always… hey what's that?" the ghuliba abruptly cut off his babbling to grab at the empty air.

"Hey, I want some too!" the other playfully struggled for the imaginary object.

"Well, I'll be going then," I took the opportunity put an end to this silliness, "Goodbye."

* * *

"Such a strange substance," I muttered to myself as I peered through the magnifier at the cherry red fragment. I figured I might as well get some research done while I waited for Zee Tee to arrive at my castle. This brightly colored clay was quite the mystery. Bricks made from the stuff seemed unbreakably strong. It took tremendous force to crack one. Nonetheless, they were useful only in decorative, temporary structures because, seemingly at random, they would crumble like loosely held gravel. Under the magnifier, the jagged edge looked like it was knocked to pieces by a sharp impact. The side where I cut, however, seemed in perfect condition with no signs of wear at all.

"Lady Nehema," called James, the rose-petaled butler, "Asterisk flower Zee Tee is here to see you."

"Send him in," I replied, rushing to jot down the last few notes as Zee Tee entered.

He looked around at the scattered papers and brick samples, "Woah, you've done all this since yesterday? You're working too hard."

"What else is a princess supposed to do around here? Flowerland practically rules itself. This place is so cheerful and vibrant; the only bad thing that ever happens here is the occasional injured ghuliba. Maybe I should study that next. I think they may have some sort of allergy to the flowers—not you of course, but those purple ones rooted into the ground. Sometimes I see a ghuliba run into a flower patch and come out looking like they've scraped through a thorn bush. I wonder how I could study that without hurting any of the ghulibas," Zee Tee gave me a knowing glance, "Oops, I'm rambling again aren't I? Well, I was up pretty late. Maybe I could use a walk."

"Fear not, my princess!" Zee Tee puffed himself out adorably, "Your brave knight has come to rescue you from the perils of overworked exhaustion."

"You have made it to my tower, brave knight," I giggled, "so here is your reward." I kissed him lightly. As usual, he made that cute blushing face that turned his cheeks even more orange under the flower petals.

* * *

Nehema and I meandered over the breezy woodland path. She sighed contentedly, "You were right about getting out of the castle. The weather is lovely out here." We paused to admire the cottony puffs of cloud drifting through the cerulean sky. "Nature is so beautiful," she continued, "So amazing and complex. I just know there's much more to world around us than meets the eye." Nehema pointed out the intricate spirals in the center of a vibrant purple blossom. She stood abruptly, "I want to show you something!"

"You're not going to wander off to collect mud again, are you?" I teased.

"Hey, I needed an analogous sediment sample as a control for studying the red brick clay," she caught herself before I could chide her for slipping into lecture mode, "I mean, no, it's nothing like that. Just come on!" She grabbed my hand and rushed me to a nearby clearing.

"What is it? I don't see anything?"

"Step through this patch, here and look closely at the sky."

Normally, I wasn't all that interested in that science stuff but this was downright weird. As I treaded back and forth over that spot, it looked like the whole sky darkened. There wasn't anything there to block the sun or even cast a shadow. I tried it over a few times until I stumbled sideways. Suddenly, the sky stayed dark. More than that, everything changed! The flowers were crooked, the vibrant green grass was now a murky olive color, and the wispy clouds became thick and heavy. I turned to Nehema only to realize she was gone!

"Nehema! Nehema! Where are you?" I called out.

I saw a ghuliba wandering back and forth and rushed over to ask for help. "Oh, hi Zee Tee," the ghuliba greeted warmly.

He was so calm. I could've missed the fact that he was a darker color then ghulibas I knew but I was taken aback by his demeanor. He wore a friendly, placid smile instead of an exuberant grin, walked normally instead of skipping and frolicking, and spoke in even, measured tones. What was this place? How did this strange not-ghuliba know my name?

"Um, do I know you?" I finally brought myself to ask.

"It's me, Sunny."

"Sunny? But…?" I shook my head. I didn't have time for this oddly un-sunny orange version of Sunny. "Have you seen the princess?"

"I see the princess," he responded. The ghuliba stepped aside, stared at nothing for a few seconds and then responded, "She won't play with me."

Ugh, even in an upside-down world where they could stay calm, ghulibas still didn't make any sense!

I scrambled around the same spot desperate to find some switch or passageway or anything to make the world normal again. A strange sensation came over me which, at first, I dismissed as panic. Yet, it soon became impossible to ignore the feeling. It was like noticing the blind spot in my field of vision for the first time: a hole in a direction I'd gone my whole life without looking. Standing in that little square of earth, I was free to move a direction other than up or down, left or right, forward or back. I stepped through the curtain and the world was right again.


End file.
